Chapter 10

Aurora was joined by a squad of six marines. They were all suited up in full armor that would protect them from the vacuum of space. She quickly donned her own armor and helmet.

A moment of reflection was warranted. Space itself was empty and dead, with no beginning or end. Somehow, life had sprouted on countless planets, but space was a void that would kill you. That life had evolved to the point where they could make the lifeless void passable sometimes amazed her.

Every person on her team had a healthy respect for what space could do to them without adequate protection. That was why they had a buddy system to ensure their space armor was sealed. Once assured everyone was ready and having had her own checked, Aurora gave the order to board the troop transport.

When they cleared Loki’s Mischief’s landing bay, the metallic body of the space station came into view. It had descended too close to the gas giant it orbited. It was being buffeted by the billows of the outer atmosphere, shaken as it was by solar winds and storms closer to the surface. Aurora judged that Loki’s estimate of the station’s ultimate demise was probably accurate.

A few more days and the unrelenting buffeting would slow the station more, causing it to descend further. It would drop to the point that atmospheric pressure would crush the station—if it didn’t burn up first—sending it into the raging storms swirling on the surface. Once that happened, the station would be out of everyone’s reach.

“Prepare for docking,” rang out over the comms.

The troop transport put them down on the top of one of the station modules. From a cursory examination, it looked like the station consisted of spherical modules utilized for anything from living quarters to housing for scientific discoveries. Aurora’s team drilled a hole into the surface of the one they’d landed on to gain access. They would install a door and ladder so it could be reused as an access point. Once the hull gave way, Aurora led the way and pushed herself in.

The suit absorbed most of the impact from the ten-foot drop; it seemed the Burel had left the artificial gravity on, though she couldn’t imagine why. Aurora rolled to nullify the impact that wasn’t absorbed before getting to her feet and scanning the surroundings with her rifle raised. She found herself in what appeared to be a mess hall, lit with emergency lights running along each wall. Then again, who knew if the Burel had mess halls? The area was a shambles as everything had tried to shake loose. Even spots on the walls, ceiling, and floors had been bent or broken.

Aurora didn’t bother to activate her magnetic boots; the artificial gravity held her firmly to the floor. She did feel a bit lighter than she was used to; maybe the Burel came from a lower-gravity world? She released a flock of drones to map the surrounding area. Their feeds could be seen on their heads-up displays and on Loki’s Mischief.

“Clear!” Aurora called out.

One by one, the rest of her team dropped through the hatch and took up their positions around her.

As Aurora waited for the drones to do their job, she reflected on her childhood. She remembered wishing they weren’t alone in the universe besides the Yahve and Vuln. Then she was told they weren’t, and she became afraid because the Burel felt like a threat.

Her father had shared how everyone coveted Burel technology. She read between the lines and predicted they would eventually find the Burel, and one of two things would happen. They would either try to convince them to share their knowledge or take it from them. Knowing how humans thought, she expected the latter.

All the evidence indicated the Burel outgunned humans; that was a large part of what kept her father up at night. Their ships were more mobile than anything the humans, Yahve, or Vuln possessed. Mankind’s only advantage seemed to be that they outnumbered the Burel. They might defeat the mysterious aliens in a confrontation, but at what cost?

Part of her worried about what the Norsemen might find. The technology could quickly tip the power structure in the known universe, and she wasn’t sure they could handle the responsibility. It would also put a massive target on their backs if the rest found out they possessed working Burel weapons and the like.

“All clear,” Loki announced as the drones mapped this module. “You have a breathable atmosphere, though it’s a bit richer in oxygen than you’re used to and has greater concentrations of noble gases. I expect you may find your throat becomes raw from the added oxygen, and I strongly recommend you be careful not to ignite anything. You also have gravity, though again, it’s not what you’re used to. I am directing drones to the corridors that lead to other nodes. You may begin a visual inspection and secure it as an entry point to the station.”

“You heard our orders. Get moving,” Aurora said to her troops.

Brodie was ready to stuff Sven into the brig and leave him there for the duration of their trip. The King’s hersir was pacing back and forth and asking for updates every two minutes.

“Stop pacing,” Brodie said irritably.

Sven stopped and let out a sigh.

“Sorry. This is a big deal for me, and I feel I have to prove myself after my cock-up on Norse.”

At the academy, Brodie had noticed that Sven got nervous when under pressure. Brodie had taken advantage of it a few times, but at the moment, he just wanted the man to settle down and quit irritating him.

“You’re babysitting scientists. How badly can that go?”

Sven thought about it for a moment and smiled.

“Thanks. You’re right. I just have to keep them from accidentally walking out an airlock.”

Brodie looked at his command center and saw Loki had identified three station modules that gave off interesting energy readings. His plan was to get to the good stuff before the scientists and load it into the cargo holds of Relentless and Pursuer. He would have to find something to keep the scientists busy in the meantime.

Aurora had completed the sweep of the module, which appeared to be crew quarters. She’d split her team in half and used the tubes between modules to get to other station sections. Sven spotted something and got excited.

“That section looks like the command center. We need to get down there immediately,” Sven announced.

Brodie figured that would be the perfect distraction and get his old nemesis off his bridge.

“Gear your people up, and we’ll take you over,” Brodie said.

Sven bolted from the bridge, eager to begin his phase of the mission. Once he left the bridge, Brodie contacted Val and Erik.

“Get teams into the sections Loki has indicated may be high-value targets.”

“We’re on it,” Val answered.

A moment later, Loki informed Brodie the troop transport was ready to leave with the scientists. He gave the command to launch.

He knew that when he got home, all the cargo his people collected would have to be given to King Denhardt. But that didn’t mean his AIs wouldn’t have a chance to try to figure out how everything worked first.

Aurora returned to the entry they’d cut to meet Sven and his scientific team. Her grandfather used to tell stories about someone called Murphy. Seemingly, it was some ancient lore. Her grandfather had added an addendum to what he called Murphy’s Law. Not only was it, ’If something can go wrong, it will,’ but also, ’and at the worst possible time.’

Sven was helping his team lower their equipment from the troop transport. One of the scientists supervising from above overbalanced and fell on the crate. Both the crate and the scientist came crashing down onto Sven.